Time Given Back Creates Precious Moments
by sweet-and-simple
Summary: Tsuna loves the man who hides behind the facade of a monster and the monster hates himself for loving Tsuna.  The world ends and the grandfather clock turns back time.  It is now THEIR time.  6927  OOC


**~ I. ~ **

He loves a monster.

He didn't mean to fall in love with him, didn't plan to, never saw it coming… but his heart was inevitably stolen and his soul was bound. His eyes followed and his lips shivered with hope of just _one_ glance… one look.

He loves Rokudo Mukuro, the very being set on stealing his body. How can he be so foolish as to love him?

The answer is almost _too_ simple; whether or not Mukuro hates him for what he is a part of, he loves Mukuro for who he is behind his façade of fastidious vanity and cruel selfishness. He sacrifices, loves, and protects those he cares for. He cares for Ken, Chikusa, Chrome, M.M., and – though a questionable subject – Fran. They are his reasoning, battered creatures just like him who want nothing more than retribution. Mukuro has given them his strength, his life, his very freedom.

How can he not love him? That sort of loyalty, that subtle shield that Mukuro creates with his own body… it strikes a chord within him and makes him lose his composure a little more around the illusionist.

His tragic past as well drags at him, settling cold and hard in his belly and heavily on his mind. Is there any question of how Mukuro became who he is now? The cruelty he had had to bear, the responsibility he had taken upon himself. Mukuro acts like a child, but has he ever before had the chance to be so?

He loves him… he loves him, he loves him, he loves him. And he knows that it is unrequited love because Mukuro despises him. As long as he is mafia and Mukuro strives to strike down the mafia, they will always oppose each other.

Mukuro is not his to love, no matter how much he wishes otherwise.

**~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~ : ~**

He loves a monster.

He didn't plan for it, never wanted it, most certainly had no idea of following through with it… but his heart was brutally stolen from his chest and his soul was chained down as surely as Vendicare had chained down his body. His duo-colored eyes were bound to follow his obsession and his lips parted on a soft sigh every time, much to his own annoyance.

He loves Tsunayoshi Sawada, and he hates himself for it. How can he be so stupid as to fall in love with a Mafioso?

The answer is almost too plain to see; whether or not he hates what Tsuna is a part of, he loves him for who he is. He has no façade, only petty lies to hide behind when he wants no one to be concerned for him. He sacrifices, he loves, and protects those he cares for – he even takes it upon himself to protect those he does not know. He holds no prejudice against any soul, whether worn or new. His arms are open to any who are in need of a shield, his smile is warm to all whose days are incomplete until that one, beautiful moment.

Tsuna makes it too difficult _not_ to love him. Everyone falls for his charm sooner or later; he simply is his own, powerful force that eliminates negative feelings. And that terrifies him.

He _needs_ his hatred, his rage – even his fear. He can not forget that terror he felt when he was harmed, hurt, and used. He can not forget that beast that had been born in him as they had prodded and tortured him. Without it, without these emotions, he will fail in his goal. And his goal is to take over Tsuna's body to use him to destroy the world he is reforming.

He loves him… he loves him, he loves him, he loves him… but he must forget that love and strengthen his hatred. He must stop searching for Tsuna's smile, stop hoping to see it directed at him. He must relive his past and visit the dark splotches on the map where the mafia has destroyed hundreds of lives. He can not fall for Tsuna. He can not give in. As long as Tsuna is the Tenth Don of the Vongola family, he will aim to overtake him.

Tsuna is Mafioso, and therefore not his to love.

**~ II. ~**

Tsuna is standing in front of him, bruised, pale, bloody, and defeated. Byakuran has defeated him; their demise is promised to come shortly.

The brunette collapses against him, on the verge of death and too weak to hold himself up any longer. Because he can not think of anything else to do – because this is essentially the _end_ and there is nothing wrong with living life to the last second – he wraps Tsuna up in his arms and holds him tightly with his chin burrowing into the copper locks that smell of ash and blood.

"I-I…" Tsuna coughs until he spits scarlet. "I love you… I love you…" And he keeps repeating those words until his blue lips no longer speak. _I love you_.

Mukuro kisses Tsuna's uncooperative mouth. "I love you." He answers, far too late. "I love you, I love you, I love you…" Purple veins and splotches of the same shade of indigo stain his flesh as his trident appears in the hand furthest from Tsuna. He holds the Don to him, his still body pressed to his chest. "I love you, I love you, I love you…"

The enemy is quick to arrive. They surround Mukuro, the distant screams and howls of their allies fading into nothingness.

He stands, Tsuna held to his chest (he realizes just how slight the brunette is, how light he is in his embrace) as he grins coldly at his murderous audience.

Oya, so they want the mist and sky Vongola rings? Kufufufu~

He dies, of course. But the ground is an endless sea of red before he passes away, his body and Tsuna's disappearing in a growth of white lotus flowers.

There is no 'happily ever after' to their love story. The world descends into flames and rubble; there is no happiness to be found in a wasteland. They have failed and that is simply that. And their 'the end' never actually ends. Only their lives have ceased.

But then time starts over… it rewinds, backtracks, stumbles backwards… No one dies; their younger selves had defeated Byakuran – life was no longer obsolete. _They _are alive.

They touch each other, the memories striking them much like open fire. Their last moments, the ushered confessions. Do they dare ignore their feelings, knowing just how precious life is?

They answer each other with starved kisses, roaming hands, and thundering hearts.

Mukuro is the nightmare born from revenge and Tsuna is the dream born from friendship. They mix like silk and bark, like swans and swine, or gold and coal. Their goals mesh and yet are two completely different entities. _They_ are two completely different entities.

And they love each other for it.

"I love you…" Tsuna whispers, almost as if he is begging. "I love you."

"I love you." Mukuro smiles, as if he _could_ be joking. "I love you, I love you, I love you~"

_I love you._

* * *

><p>Author's Note: Were the characters OOC? Yes. Was it rushed? Yes. Did I have this great idea in my mind that twisted itself into garbage? Yes. Do I love my readers? Yes. Is 'yes' the only thing I can say? … <em>Yessssss<em>.


End file.
